The Mark of Salvation

The Mark of Salvation

 

Genesis 4:14-15 "14Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."

 

The mark that God gave to Cain was a "mark of salvation" that saved Cain. For Cain, who had killed his younger brother, that mark was his life, because it spared him from being killed by others. The Bible does not record exactly what that mark was, but Cain must have lived always treasuring and keeping that mark, which was like his very life. In the same way, we too need the mark of salvation that Cain needed. This is because, like Cain, we too are sinners. Just as Cain killed his younger brother, Scripture says that if we hate our brother, we also are murderers.

 

1 John 3:15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

 

In the end, we too are sinners like Cain, and therefore the mark of salvation that Cain had is absolutely necessary for us as well. This is because whether we live or die is determined by whether or not we have the mark that saves.

 

Besides Cain, another example in which life and death were determined by the mark of salvation can be seen in the case of Rahab the harlot in Joshua 2.

 

Joshua 2:12-21 "12-13Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death. 14And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. 15Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. 16And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way. 17And the men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear. 18Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. 19And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him. 20And if thou utter this our business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear. 21And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed: and she bound the scarlet line in the window."

 

To Rahab, who saved the two spies of Israel, a "mark of salvation" was given by which she and her family could live. The mark of salvation given to Rahab was to tie a scarlet cord in the window. When the people of Israel came to strike Jericho, the scarlet cord had to be tied in the window in order for Rahab and all who were in her house to live. Just like the mark given to Cain, the scarlet cord tied in the window was like life itself to Rahab and her family.

 

In the Bible, the color scarlet symbolizes blood. Blood is life, and Scripture says that blood makes atonement for sin (Leviticus 17:11). The command to hang the scarlet cord in the window and the command in Exodus 12 to apply the blood of the lamb to the two doorposts and the lintel have the same meaning. They all testify to the blood of Jesus, that is, the name of Jesus. This is because the name of Jesus forgives our sins.

 

1 John 2:12 "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake."

 

Acts 10:43-44 "43To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins..."

 

Luke 24:47 "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

 

Thus, we can see that the name of Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. What Cain, who killed his brother, and Rahab the harlot, who otherwise could not avoid being destroyed when Jericho fell, needed was the very "mark of atonement"; and for us today, that mark is the name of Jesus.

 

Besides the cases of Cain and Rahab, the same mark of salvation is also testified to through the words of Ezekiel 9 and Revelation 14.

 

Ezekiel 9:3-6 "3And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side; 4And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 5And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: 6Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house."

 

This passage teaches us that God’s judgment will begin from Jerusalem. In other words, it tells us that God’s judgment will begin with those who believe in God, and that "all people" will become the objects of that judgment. However, Scripture says that there are those who can escape God’s judgment. They are those who sigh and cry because of all the abominations committed in Jerusalem (verse 4), and they are all those who have received the mark on their foreheads (verse 6). Because they were able to escape God’s judgment through the mark they received on their foreheads, the mark on their foreheads became the "mark of salvation" that saved them; indeed, that mark was their life.

 

Through the words of Revelation, God revealed what the mark on the forehead in Ezekiel 9 is.

 

Revelation 7:1-4 "1And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel."

 

Revelation 9:3-4 "3And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads."

 

Revelation 14:1 "And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads."

 

Revelation 22:4 "And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." (his = Jesus)

 

As the written words above testify, the mark, or seal, on the foreheads of the one hundred forty-four thousand was the name of "Jesus." In Revelation 14:1 above, it says the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father; yet in truth, these are not two names, but one name. This is because the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father are the same (John 5:43; see The Name of God, "Jesus", Concerning Baptism).

 

The number of the one hundred forty-four thousand speaks of the final victors, that is, those who remain alive to the end. Yet no one can say that only that exact number can be saved. The truly important point is the "mark of salvation" sealed on their foreheads, not the number of the one hundred forty-four thousand. They are simply a foreshadowing for us.

 

The One who seals the seal, or mark, on our foreheads is the Spirit of truth (Ephesians 1:13). And those who can receive the seal are, as in Ezekiel 9, those who sigh and cry because of all the abominations committed in Jerusalem. That is, they are not those who live self-centered lives, but those who first think of the glory of the name of Jesus in whatever they say or do (Colossians 3:17).

 

On the other hand, Satan also marks blasphemous names on people’s foreheads in order to hinder this truth.

 

Revelation 13 "1And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy... 16And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads..."

 

Revelation 17:1-5 "... 5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

 

The words above must become a warning to us, so that we may have spiritual discernment and not live by such blasphemous names.

 

All names other than the name of Jesus are blasphemous names. This is because all glory and honor must be received by Jesus alone (Psalm 148:13). In the Bible, Babylon signifies pride (Daniel 4:28-30), and the harlot, that is, the adulteress, signifies those who have departed from the word of God and become friends with the world (James 4:4). Therefore, even if people say that they believe in Jesus, if they are proud and exalt themselves above the name of Jesus, or if they depart from the truth and compromise with the world for money and power, blasphemous names cannot help but be written on their foreheads.

 

What name is written on our foreheads now? And in whose name are we living now?

 

Because we are all sinners, all of us absolutely need the name of Jesus, which is the mark of salvation. In other words, we are beings who cannot live without the name of Jesus. Since the name of Jesus is our very life, just as Cain and Rahab, whom we have examined above, lived day by day relying on the mark of salvation given to them, we too must live day by day relying on the name of Jesus, which is our mark of salvation. Those who truly have the name of Jesus sealed on their foreheads cannot help but put only the name of Jesus at the forefront of everything. This is because only the name of Jesus is their one and only mark of salvation!

 

John 16:24 "Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full."

 

Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

 

John 20:31 "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

 

Colossians 3:17 "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

 

Amen.